By one measure, delivery of therapeutic medicaments generated $122.3 billion in 2012 and will grow to $198.4 billion by 2017. Growth in the market for drug delivery technology provides participants with opportunities to create new ways to deliver increasingly potent and specific therapeutics. Polyethylene glycol (PEG) remains the only synthetic polymer used in commercial products as a stealth drug delivery vehicle because it is substantially biocompatible, and it prolongs blood circulation times for therapeutic carriers. PEG is also associated with hazardous side-effects including immunological responses that can lead to increased blood clotting and embolism, nonspecific recognition by the immune system, and hypersensitivity reactions. These side-effects may be intensified by the non-biodegradability of PEG. Therefore, there is a need in the drug delivery industry for a versatile delivery vehicle for therapeutics that has fewer side-effects.